Author 



LT5 

3525. 

310 




Title 



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Imprint 



Book 




A LIVE OAK. 
The Washington Oak, Audubon Park. 



Issued by 

T. H. HARRIS, 

State Superintendent of^Edvcation. 
Baton Rouge, La. 



ARBOR DAY. 






Baton Rouge, La., Oct. 30, 1909 

To the Teachers of Louisiana: 

The custom of planting trees has been prevalent among the 
nations of the earth during the centuries; and it has been 
practiced by semi-civilized Aztecs as well as by the highly 
civilized Germans. In France trees are planted along the 
roadside and along the borders of fields. But the honor of 
instituting our American Arbor Day belongs to Hon. J. Sterling 
Morton, of Nebraska, Secretary of Agriculture during Cleve- 
land's administration. 

"The lesson of Arbor Day is the use and value of the tree 
in the life of the nation. It should therefore be the aim of thi 
teacher so to observe the day as to convey the lesson clearly 
and impressively." The day should be devoted to planting 
trees not only for the sake of the trees and for beautifying the 
school grounds, but for teaching the lessons of elementary for- 
estry, and the economic value of the forest. 

The day should be partly devoted to the planting of trees, 
but the planting of trees should be used as a means of arousing 
an interest in the study of the economic value of the forest and 
to furnish a basis for the study of elementary forestry. 

My earnest desire is that the teachers of the State enter 
into the spirit of the day and celebrate it in such a manner as 
to arouse the enthusiasm of the children. Arbor Day furnishes 
an opportunity to impress upon the school children of the State 
the value, the care, and the conservation of one of the great 
natural resources of Louisiana — tke forest. 

Very sincerely yours, 

T. H. HARRIS, 
State Superintendent. 



r> of D, 

910 



tJI 



To the Teachers. 



This book is the property of the State and should be listed 
and filed with the other books of the library. The pupils should 
have access, to 'this pamphlet, and teachers can make use of it 
in preparing subsequent exercises. 



RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE STATE BOARD OF 
EDUCATION. 

Be it resolved: That the State Board of Education hereby 
designates the second Friday in January as Arbor Day, a day 
on which those in charge of the public schools and institutions 
of learning under State control, or State patronage, shall, for 
at least two hours, give information to the pupils and students 
concerning the value and interest of forestry, the duty of pupils 
to protect the song-birds, and to encourage and assist in the 
planting of forest trees. 

Be it further resolved: That the State Superintendent of 
Public Education is hereby directed to prescribe from time to 
time, a program of exercises and instruction in the subjects 
hereinbefore mentioned, which shall be adopted and observed 
by the public school authorities on Arbor Day, said program to 
be issued to the Parish Superintendents, and upon receipt of 
copies of such program, sufficient in number to supply all the 
schools under their supervision, the Superintendents aforesaid 
shall promptly provide each of the schools under their charge 
with a copy, and cause same to be observed. Nov. 24, 1905.) 



The tree planter and teacher united in one shall be declared 
the best benefactor of modern times — the chief provider for 
posterity. — J. Sterling Morton. 



To the Public. 



The Forest Service exists to promote forestry throughout 
the whole country, for every practical purpose and for the ben- 
efit of all. Its knowledge, advice, and cooperation are at the 
disposal of all forest users. 

Those who desire to practice forestry on their timber lands 
or wood lots should apply for Circular 21, which explains the 
terms of cooperation offered. 

Those who desire to plant or improve forest plantations 
should apply for Circular 22, which explains the cooperative 
terms offered for this work. 

Following the necessary official action on the part of any 
State, cooperative studies of the State forest problems will be 
undertaken. 

Questions about the National Forests, about tree species, 
about the strength, mechanical qualities, preservative treat- 
ment, or commercial use of woods, about woods for special 
purposes, as well as about forests, forest products, and the 
industries depending upon them, will be carefully answered. 

Information upon forest legislation may be sought. 

All communications should be addressed to 

THE FORESTER, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

Washington, D. C. 




LIVE OAKS AND SPANISH MOSS. 

(Campus, Louisiana State University and A. and M. College, 

Baton Rouge, La.) 

SUGGESTIONS FOR PROGRAMS. 

(For other subjects for Arbor Day consideration see Parish 
Association Manual, 1908, page 40.) 

BEFORE ARBOR DAY: 

1. Begin at once to arouse an interest in Arbor Day. 

Find out who wiJl furnish trees, shrubs, bulbs and 
flowering perennials such as will grow in Louisiana. 

2. Try and get an old soldier to furnish and help plant a 

Confederate memorial tree. 

3. Clean up the yard and spade up a flower bed. 

4. Plat the ground and decide what would be the best 

plan of planting. 

5. Have holes dug for planting trees before Arbor Day. 

(See page 42, Parish Association Manual, 1908.) 

6. For morning opening exercises read an article from 

Arbor Day circular. 

ON ARBOR DAY — (Program No. 1) : 

1. Song: An anthem for Arbor Day. 

2. Recitations or readings by pupils, verses found in this 

pamphlet. 

(5) 



3. Each pupil tell the school what he has done in plant- 

ing, or in helping the birds. 

4. Planting trees, shrubs, vines and flowers. 

5. Song: After the planting. 

List this pamphlet with your Library books that the chil- 
dren may continue to enjoy the pictures and read the articles 
and poems. 

SUGGESTED SUBJECTS FOR ESSAYS (1909 Manual): 

History of Arbor Day. 

Arbor Day Influence. 

School Grounds — Arbor Day Work in the Past and Fu- 
ture — How to Improve Them. 

Famous Trees. 

Forestry. 

Plants Native to Our District and State. 

Plans for the Next Year. 

Debate — Resolved, That he who plants trees benefits the 
world more than he who builds cities. 

What Children Can Do to Improve School Grounds. 

Use of Forests. 

Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy. (See current magazines). 




A SCHOOL SITE WITHOUT TREES. 
06) 



MATERIAL FOR ARBOR DAY. 
I. From Parish Association Manual, 1908: 

1. Beautify school grounds, page 47. 

2. Good roads, page 60. 

3. Agriculture and Home Economics, page 23. 

4. Hints on rural school grounds, page 14. 

5. Kinds of plants for planting, page 20. 

6. Kinds of plants for decoration, page 20. 

7. How to plant trees, page 41. 

8. What trees to plant, page 41. 

9. Prepare the ground, page 42. 

10. About trimming trees, page 43. 

11. Protect the trees, page 44. 

12. A common mistake, page 45. 

13. Plant shrubs also, page 45. 

11. From One-Week Institutes (1908): 

1. Ornamentation of school grounds. 
III. From Other Sources: 

1. Arbor Day Manual, 1906. 

2. Arbor Day Manual, 1907. 

3. Arbor Day Manual, 1908. 

4. Arbor Day Manual, 1909. 




A SCHOOL SITE WITH TREES. 
(7) 



How to Use This Material. 

Talk to the children and encourage them to plant house and 
garden plants. 

Discuss "How to Plant Trees." 

Read the poems to the children, or, better still, let some of 
the children read them to the school. 

Commit to memory some of the poems. 

Discuss the article on "The Economic Value of Common 
Birds." Pupils might be assigned a particular bird of which 
they were to tell the school. 

Read the poems and commit some to memory. 

Have a short program of singing, recitations, and essays on 
Arbor Day. 

Get the school board to clean up the yard, repair fences, and 
trim the trees. 

Plant flowers, vines, shrubs, and trees. Most of this work 
should be done at noons and recesses, but some planting should 
be done on Arbor Day. 

Place this pamphlet in the school library for future refer- 
ence. 

Use materials found in your school journals and elsewhere. 



HINTS FOR ESSAYS, DISCUSSIONS, ETC. 

How to Make Arbor Day Most Beautiful. 
History of Arbor Day. 
Famous Trees. 
What the Trees Do for Us. 
How to Plant Trees. 
How to Care for Them. 
Legends about Trees. 
"What We Owe to Trees. 
Our Most Useful Trees. 
My Favorite Tree. 
Best Tree to Plant. 
The World's Great Forests. 
Best Tree to Plant on Roadside. 
Best Trees and Shrubs for Home Lawns. 
School Grounds: How to Improve Them. 
How to Do Away with Rubbish on the Roadside. 
Why Children Should Be Entertained on Arbor Day and 
Bird Day. 

(8) 



School Teachers: 

Have you ever talked with your pupils about keeping the 
school room neat and clean and the grounds attractive? Are 
there any pictures on the walls of your school room? Does 
the floor need scrubbing? Are there any piles of rubbish in 
the yard? 



School Trustees: 

How many years have elapsed since your school house 
has had a coat of paint? Is the building a oredit to your 
community? Do you know that it does not cost a very 
large sum to paint the ordinary school house? What steps 
have you taken to secure ample school grounds? 



HOW TO PLANT A TREE. 

I. Dig the hole wider and deeper than the tree requires. 
If the tree just fits into the socket, the tips of the roots will 
meet a hard wall, which they are too delicate to penetrate, 
hold fast to, or feed in. 

II. Be sure that the surface soil is hoarded at one side 
when the hole is dug. This soil is mellow and full of plant 
food. The under soil is harder and more barren. Some rich 
garden soil can well be brought over and used instead of this 
subsoil. 

III. Take up as large a root system as possible with the 
tree you dig. The smaller the ball of earth, the greater the loss 
of feeding roots and the danger of starvation to the tree. 

IV. Trim all torn and broken roots with a sharp knife. 
A ragged wound below or above the ground is slow and un- 
certain in healing. A clean, slanting cut heals soonest and 
surest. 

V. Set the tree on a bed of mellow soil with all the roots 
spread naturally. 

VI. Let the level be the same as before. The tree's roots 
must be planted, but not buried too deep to breathe. A stick 
laid across the hole at the ground level will indicate where the 
tree "collar" should be. 

VII. Sift rich earth, free from clods, among the roots. 
Hold the tree erect and firm; lift it a little to make sure the 
spaces are well filled underneath. Pack it well down with your 
foot. 

VIII. If in the growing season, pour in water and let it 
settle away. This establishes contact between root hairs and 

(9) 



soil particles and dissolves plant food for absorption. If the 
tree is dormant do not water it. 

IX. Fill the hole with dirt. Tramp in well as filling goes 
on. Heap it somewhat to allow for settling. If subsoil is 
used, put it on last. Make the tree firm in its place. 

X. Prune the top to a few main branches and shorten 
these. This applies to a sapling of a few years whose head 
you are able to form. Older trees should also be pruned to 
balance the loss of roots. Otherwise transpiration of water 
from the foliage would be so great as to overtax its roots, not 
yet established in the new place. Many trees die from this 
abuse. People cannot bear to cut back the handsome top, 
though a handsomer one is soon supplied by following this 
reasonable rule. 

XI. Water the tree frequently at first. A thorough soak- 
ing of all the roots, not a mere sprinkling of the surface soil, 
is needed. Continuous growth depends on moisture in the soil. 
Drainage will remove the surplus water. 

XII. Keep the surface soil free from cakes or cracks. This 
prevents excessive evaporation. Do not stir the soil deep 
enough to disturb the roots. Keep out grass and weeds. 

From "The Tree Book" (Doubieday, Page & Co.). 



HISTORIC AMERICAN TREES. 

The grand Magnolia tree, near Charleston, S. C, under 
which General Lincoln held council of war previous to surren- 
dering the city. 

The great Pecan tree at Villere's plantation, near New Or- 
leans, under which a portion of the remains of General Pack- 
enham was buried. 

The Tory Tulip tree on King's Mountain battle field in 
South Carolina, on which ten bloodthirsty Tories were hanged 
at one time. 

The tall Pine tree at Fort Edward, N. Y., under which the 
beautiful Jane McCrea was slain. 

The magnificent Black Walnut tree, near Haverstraw, on 
the Hudson, at which General Wayne mustered his forces at 
midnight, preparatory to his gallant and successful attack on 
Stony Point. 

The Lofty Cypress tree in the dismal swamp, under which 
Washington reposed one night in his young manhood. 

The huge French Apple tree, near Fort Wayne, Ind., where 
•Little Turtle, the great Miami chief, gathered his warriors.. 



The wide spreading Oak tree of Flushing, Long Island, un- 
der which George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, 
preached. 

The Pear trees planted, respectively, by Governor Endicott, 
of Massachusetts, and Governor Stuyvesant, of New York, two 
hundred years ago. 

The Freedman's Oak tree, Hampton Institute, Hampton, 
Virginia, under which the slaves of this region first heard read 
President Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. 

The Elliot Oak tree of Newton, Mass., under which the 
apostle John Elliot taught the Indians Christianity. 

The Ash and Tulip trees planted at Mount "Vernon by Wash- 
ington. 

The Elm tree planted by General Grant on the Capitol 
grounds at Washington. 

The Treaty Elm tree at Philadelphia, under which William 
Penn made his famous treaty with nineteen tribes of bar- 
barians. 

The Charter Oak at Hartford, which preserved the written 
guarantee of the liberties of the Colony of Connecticut. 



THE PLANTING SONG. 

(Air: 'America.") 
"Grow thou and flourish well, 
Ever the story tell 

Of this glad day. 
Long may thy branches raise 
To heaven our grateful praise, 
Waft them on sunlight ras r s 

To God away. 

'Deep in the earth to-day 
Safely thy roots we lay, 

Tree of our love; 
Grow thou and flourish long; 
Ever our grateful song 
Shall its glad notes prolong 

To God above." 

— Selected. 



Give fools their gold and knaves their power; 

Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; 
Who sows a field, or trains a flower, 

Or plants a tree, is more than all. 

— John Greervleaf Whittier. 

(U) 




Showing Method of Obtaining Turpentine. 
Second growth Pine Forest. 
Virgin Pine Forest. 



(12) 



To avert treelessness; to improve the climatic conditions; 
for the sanitation and embellishment of home environments; 
for the love of the beautiful and useful combined in the music 
and majesty of a tree as fancy and truth unite in an epic 
poem, Arbor Day was created. It has grown with the vigor 
and beneficence of a grand truth, or a great tree. — J. Sterling 
Morton. 



SKETCH OF J. STERLING MORTON. 

The Founder of Arbor Day. 
Julius Sterling Morton was born in Jefferson County, New 
York, in 1832. He was of Puritan stock, his ancestors having 
come from England on the "Little Ann," the first ship after 
the Mayflower. His parents removed to Michigan when the 
son was still a baby. He was sent to good private schools and 
seminaries and later on to Michigan University, but was grad- 
uated at Union College, New York, in 1854. Immediately after 
completing his college course, he married and removed to 
Nebraska, and in the following year chose Nebraska City as 
his permanent home, .locating as a preemptor upon a claim 
half a mile square, adjacent to the town. This estate grew 
into beautiful Arbor Lodge, so familiar to all lovers of the 
holiday founded by Mr. Morton, and the home of the remainder 
of his life. 



THE MENACE OF THE FOREST. 

The climatic history of the Old World will repeat itself in 
America. If forest destruction, at the present rate of reck- 
lessness, should continue much longer, our continent may have 
to dry up. But the fact remains, and its significance may be 
inferred from the exeprience of the Mediterranean coast lands, 
where thousands of god-gardens have been turned into Gehen- 
nas of wretchedness and desolation. By tree destruction alone, 
a territory of 4,500,000 square miles has been' withdrawn from 
the habitable are of our planet. The physical history of the 
Eastern hemisphere is the history of a desert that originated 
somewhere near the cradle of the Caucasian race — in Bactria, 
perhaps — and, spreading westward and southward, has blighted 
the Edens of three continents like a devouring fire, and is now 
scorching the west coast of Africa, and sending its warning 
sand clouds far out to seaward. — Dr. Felix S. Oswald. 



THE CHRIST OF THE ANDES. 

In 1900 Argentina and Chile were on the verge of war over 
territorial boundary disputes; but a revulsion of feeling, orig- 

(13) 



mating in the noble protest of an eloquent bishop of Argentina, 
led to an agreement to arbitrate their difficulties. Since the 
arbitration, which satisfied both countries, both have begun 
disarmament. Chile has turned an arsenal into a trade school, 
is teaching science more than military tactics to her cadets, 
and has already spent on good roads ten million dollars gained 
by reducing naval expenses. In March, 1904, upon a mountain 
pass on the lofty Andes boundary line, there was erected a 
colossal bronze statue of Christ, as a memorial of the compact 
of perpetual peace between these nations, and as a better 
guardian of the border than a cordon of fortresses. — From 
"Patriotism and the New Internationalism," Lucia Ames Mead 
(Ginn & Co.). 



PLANTED HIMSELF TO GROW. 

Dear, little bright- eyed Willie, 

Always so full of glee, 
Always so very mischievous, 

The pride of our home is he. 

One bright summer day we found him 

Close by the garden wall, 
Standing so grave and dignified 

Beside a sunflower tall. 

His tiny feet had covered 

With the moist and cooling sand; 
The stalk of the great, tall sunflower 

He grasped with his chubby hand. 

When he saw us standing near him, 

Gazing so wonderingly 
At his babyship, he greeted us 

With a merry shodt of glee. 

We asked our darling what pleased him; 

He replied with a face aglow, 
'Mamma, I'm going to be a man; 
I've planted myself to grow." 
— Selected, from "Nature in Verse," Copyright, 
1895, by Silver, Burdett & Co. 



ARBOR DAY SONG. 

No. 1. 
(Air: "Hold the Fort") 
Friends and parents, gather with us, 
In our school to-day, 

(14) 



Thoughts of groves and tangled wildwoods 
In our minds hold sway. 

CHORUS. 

Spare the trees, oh, thoughtless woodman. 

Hew but what you need; 
They give balm to vagrant breezes, 

For their lives we plead. 

Giant oaks in sunny pastures 

Cast their pleasant shade, 
Mapies clad in gold and crimson 

Cheer the darkened glade. 

Lofty firs and murmuring pine trees 

Shading mountain's crest, 
Are the growth of weary ages; 

For them we protest. 
Heralded in leafy banners, 

Seasons four we greet; 
Every bough a sacred temple. 

For the song birds sweet. 

— Iowa Special Days 



ARBOR DAY SONG. 

No. 2. 
(Air: "Upidee.") 
O, Arbor Day is here at last, 

Tra, la, la! Tra, la, la! 
The cold of winter now is past, 
Tra, la, la, la, la! 

Now all the trees are green and bright, 
The flowers are dancing in the light; 
Birds are singing in the trees, 

Tra, la, la! Tra, la, la! 
Boughs are swaying in the breeze, 

Tra, la, la, la, la! 

The skies are clear, the skies are blue, 

Tra, la, la! Tra, la, la! 
The trees and flowers are drest anew, 

Tra, la, la, la, la! 

(15) 



THE FOREST SERVICE: WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT 
DEALS WITH FOREST PROBLEMS. 

"Forest Service" has been the name since July 1, 1905, of 
that branch of the Department of Agriculture which was 
previously caned the "Bureau of Forestry," and, earlier still, 
the "Division of Forestry." 

Since February 1, 1905, the Forest Service has been charged, 
under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, with the 
administration of the National Forests. About the manage- 
ment of the National Forests, therefore, the work of the 
Service now centers. The forests, whose area on October 1, 
1907, was 158,809,459 acres, are of -vital importance for their 
timber and grass and for the conservation of stream flow. 
They are so managed as to develop their permanent value as 
a resource by use. Opposition toward them, based on the 
belief that preservation would prevent use, has changed with 
the understanding of their real object to approval and support. 
The last valid objections to their establishment and mainten- 
ance have been removed by the Agricultural Settlement law of 
June 11, 1906, and by a clause in the agricultural appropria- 
tion act for the year 1906-7. By the first, agricultural land in 
National Forests, if classified as chiefly valuable for agricul- 
ture, listed in the local land office, and opened by the 
Secretary of the Interior, may be taken up by home 
builders. Many small tracts of agricultural lands, scat- 
tered here and there along creeks and valleys, have unavoid- 
ably been included within forest boundaries, though the utmost 
care to secure elimination of all large bodies of such land when 
the boundaries were drawn. The need of such a law as that 
of June 11 was clearly seen, and its passage was secured. 

The so-called "ten per cent clause" of the agricultural ap- 
propriation bill provides that States having forests are to re- 
ceive 10 per cent of the gross receipts from the forests within 
their boundaries, to be distributed among the counties in which 
the forests lie and devoted to public schools and roads. Many 
counties have much of this area, in some cases more than 
half, in National Forests, and this land is withdrawn from 
the possibility of private ownership and taxation. By the new 
law the loss to the counties from the withdrawal of taxable 
land is offset. 

The business management of the National Forests is in 
itself a large undertaking. The business on the National For- 
ests is destined to grow rapidly and to assume far-reaching 
economic importance. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1907, 
approximately $1,500,000 was received, chiefly from grazing and 

(16) 



timber sales. The returns from timber sales alone, over $500,- 
000, more than doubled the returns of the previous year. Graz- 
ing, which formerly had been free, has brought in nearly 
$1,400,000 under the permit system inaugurated in January, 
1906. 

The free use of timber and stone which, at the discretion 
of the Secretary of Agriculture, is granted to settlers and 
others who may not reasonably be required to purchase, as 
well as to school and road districts, churches, or cooperative 
organizations of settlers, very greatly aids the development of 
the regions in and near the forests. 

It is the active policy of the Forest Service to manage the 
National Forests upon a sound technical as well as business 
basis. Only improvement in the standard of the technical 
management can secure steady and constant increase in re- 
turns without depleting the forest. To this end careful inves- 
tigation is essential. This includes special study of the habits 
and requirements of trees as a basis for the regulation of cut- 
ting of every kind. Special attention is given to finding new 
uses for species at present valueless or little used, as well as for 
the trees already classed as commercial and for timber killed 
by fire or insect attacks. Studies are made of damage by fire 
and the best means of preventing it, and, in cooperation with 
the Bureau of Entomology, of the prevention and control of 
insect ravages. In these and in many other ways the basis of 
knowledge necessary for the best forest work is being laid. 

Aside from the care and perpetuation of the National For- 
ests, the Forest Service has to do with the practical uses of 
forests and forest trees in the United States, especially with 
the commercial management of forest tracts, wood lots, and 
forest plantations. It undertakes such forest studies as lie 
beyond the power or the means of individuals to carry on un- 
aided. It stands ready to cooperate, to the limit of its re- 
sources, with all who seek assistance in the solution of prac- 
tical forest problems, particularly where such cooperation will 
result in setting up object lessons to serve as encouraging 
examples for the general benefit. 

Cooperative State studies are carried on with States which 
request the advice of the Service. Examples of this work are 
the studies of forest conditions in New Hampshire, which ap- 
propriated $7,000 toward the total cost, and California, which 
appropriated $25,000. Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode 
Island, Delaware, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mary- 
land, Rhode Island, Delaware, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Missouri, and Mississippi have also called upon the 
Service for expert assistance. 

(17) 



The fruits of its more important studies are published and 
distributed without charge upon request, or sold at a low price 
by the Superintendent of Documents. 



The last time I saw James Russell Lowell he walked with 
me in the garden at Elmwood to say good-by. There was a 
great horse-chestnut tree beside the house, towering above the 
gable, covered with blossoms. The poet looked up and laid his 
trembling hand upon the trunk. "I planted the nut," said he, 
"from which the tree grew. My father was . with me, and 
showed me how to plant it." — Henry Van Dyke, in "Little 
Rivers." 



In "Les Miserables" there is delineated an ideal lover of 
nature and humanity— the good Bishop of D. He, who, when 
gently reproached by a domestic for reserving one-fourth of his 
garden spot for flowers instead of letting her grow vegetables 
on the whole of it, replied: "The beautiful is as useful as the 
useful — perhaps more so." This sentence, in my opinion, is 
worthy to be emblazoned on the wall of every school room in 
our land. 



PINE NEEDLES. 

If Mother Nature patches 

The leaves of trees and vines, 

I know she does her darning 
With needles of the pine! 

They are so long and slender, 
And sometimes, in full view, 
They have their threads of cobwebs, 
And thimbles made of dew! 

William H. Hayne. 
From St. Nicholas, 
Used by permission. Copyright by the Century Co. 



TREES. 

However little I may be, 

At least I too can plant a tree. 

And some day it will grow so high 
That it can whisper to the sky. 

And spread its leafy branches wide 
To make a shade on every side. 

(18) 



Then on a sultry summer's day, 
The people resting there will say — 

"Oh, good and wise and great was he 
Who thought to plant this blessed tree!" 

Abbie Parwell Brown. 
From the "Star Jewels and Other "Wonders." 
Used by permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 



SONG— WE LOVE THE TREES. 

(Tune: "There's Music in the Air.") 
We love the grand old trees, 
With the oak, their royal king, 
And the maple, forest queen, 
We to her our homage bring. 
And the elm with stately form, 
Long withstanding wind and storm; 
Pine, low-whispering to the breeze, 
O, we love the grand old trees! 

We love the grand old trees 
The cedar bright above the snow, 
The poplar straight and tall, 
And the willow weeping low, 
Butternut and walnut, too, 
Hickory so staunch and true, 
Basswood blooming for the bees, 
O, we love the grand old trees! 

We love the grand old trees 

The tulip branching broad and high, 

The beech with shining robe, 

And the birch so sweet and shy, 

Aged chestnuts, fair to see, 

Holly, bright with Christmas glee, 

Laurel, crown for victories. 

O, we love the grand old trees! 

Ada D. Sherwood, Journal of Education. 



SWEET BIRDIE, SING. 

(Air: "Lillie Dale.") 
If ever I see 
On bush or tree, 

Young birds in a pretty nest; 
I must not in my play 
Steal the birds away, 

To grieve the mother's breast. 

(19) 



My mother, I know, 
Would worry so, 

Should I be stolen away; 
So I'll speak to the birds 
In my softest words, 

Nor hurt them in my play. 

— Selected. 




AVENUE OF OAKS. 
(Typical Colonial Plantation Home.) 

TREE OF EDCATION. 

A mighty tree, of giant growth, 

With branches fixed so low, 
That all may grasp its lower limbs, 

Was planted long ago. 
'Twas planted by Almighty Power, 

With purpose most sublime; 
Its praise is sung in every tongue, 

In every land and clime. 

Its growth is nurtured, year by year, 
And watched with eager eyes; 

Its food, the product of the mind, 
Embodied, never dies. 

(20) 



Its fruit is knowledge. He who would 

This wholesome fruit acquire, 
Must start upon the lower limbs 

And labor toward the higher. 

Its branches are so closely grown 

That he who would ascend, 
"Will find that pleasures exquisite 

His every step attend. 
Bright blossoms grow on every twig, 

And every bud so fair, 
Reveals to his inquiring mind 

A truth in hiding there. 

Ambition now assumes command, 

And animates his soul, 
And all his efforts are put forth 

To reach the far-off goal. 
He scales the branches, one by one, 

Is not content to stop, 
Until his name is carved among 

The names upon the top. 

The Tree of Learning is the work 

Of Nature's highest art, 
And men and women are but leaves — 

A very simple part; 
But through these leaves the tree breathes life, 

And this empyrean tree 
"Will stand a living monument 

Throughout Eternity. 

— J. W. Campbell, St. Martins, O. 



Be an earnest, energetic, wide-awake, thinking teacher and 
you will succeed. 



We'll seek no kingship; there is no first nor best; 

The best is being best we can, 
Then more of life and never rest; 

"We have a work that God began, 

And all are in His plan. 

— Charles Augustus Schumaker. 



Nature is but a name for an effect 
Whose cause is God. 

— Cowper. 

(21) 



One impulse from a vernal wood 
May teach you more of man, 

Of moral evil and of good, 
Than all the sages can. 

— Wordsworth. 




WHITE OAK WOODS. 
THE WOODS. 

The woods at first convey the impression of profound re- 
pose, and yet, if you watch their ways with open ear, you 
find the life which is in them is restless and nervous as that of 
a woman; the little twigs are crossing and twining and sepa- 
rating like slender fingers that can not be still, the stray leaf 
is to be flattened into its place like a truant curl; the limbs 
sway and twist, impatient of their constrained attitude; and 
the rounded masses of foliage swell upward and subside from 
time to time with long soft sighs, and, it may be, the falling of 
a few rain-drops which had lain long hidden among the deeper 
shadows. — Oliver Wendell Holmes. 



THE SPRING TIME. 



I love to trace the break of Spring step by step. I love even 
those long rain-storms, that sap the icy fortunes of the linger- 
ing winter — that melt the snows upon the hills, and swell the 
mountain brooks. I love the gentle thaws that you can trace, 

(22) 




SATIN WALNUT, OR BLACK GUM. 

day by day, by the stained snow-banks, shrinking from the 
grass; and by the quiet drip of the cottage eaves. I love to 
search out the sunny slopes under some northern shelter when 
the reflected sun does double duty to the earth, and when the 
first Hepaticas, or the faint blush of the Arbutus, in the midst 
of the bleak March atmosphere, will touch your heart, like a 
hope of Heaven in a field of graves. Later comes those soft, 
smoky days, when the patches of winter grain show green 
under the shelter of leafless woods, and the last snow drifts 
reduced to shrunken skeletons of ice, lie upon the slope of 
northern hills, leaking away their life. Then the grass at your 
door grows into the color of the sprouting grain, and the buds 
upon the lilacs swell and burst. The old elms throw down 
their thin dingy fingers, and color their spray with green; and 
the brooks when you throw your worm or the minnow float 
down whole fleets of crimsoning blossoms of the maple. Finally 
the oak steps into the opening quadril]e of spring, with grayish 
tufts of a modest verdure, which by and by will be long and 
glossy leaves. — Ike Marvel, in "Dream Life." 



THE OAK TREE. 

A gentleman once stood before an oak tree pondering 
deeply. Nine miles from the coast of Cornwall lay some 
dangerous rocks on which many a brave ship had been 
wrecked-. Twice a lighthouse had been erected upon them, 
and twice destroyed. On what plan could he build a new one, 



(23) 



which should stand firm through storm and tempest? The 
oak tree stands for hundreds of years; branch after branch 
may be broken off, but the trunk remains firm. Many others 
are torn up by the roots, but never the oak. Mr. Smeaton 
wondered if it was the peculiar shape, the broad base and 
curving waist, that made this tree so strong. He went away, 
and in 1759 the new Eddystone Lighthouse was built, broad at 
the base and sloping upward like the trunk of the oak tree; 
and it stands firm to this day. — Mrs. Dyson. 



THE PINE TREE. 

The tremendous unity of the pine absorbs and moulds the 
life of a race. The pine shadows rest upon a nation. The 
northern peoples, century after century, lived under one or 
other of the two great powers of the pine and the sea, both 
infinite. They dwelt amidst the forests as they wandered on 
the waves, and saw no end of any other horizon. Still the 
dark, green trees, or the dark, green waters, jagged the dawn 
with their fringe, or their foam. And whatever elements of 
imagination, or of warrior strength, or of domestic justice, 
were brought down by the Norwegian or the Goth, against the 
dissoluteness or degradation of the south of Europe, were 
taught them under the green roofs and wild peneralia of the 
pine. — John Ruskin. 




CYPRESS TREE AND 
CYPRESS KNEES. 



WHAT TREES DO. 

Trees are among the most 
common things in nature. They 
either cover or have covered a 
large part of the earth's surface 
that is suitable for human life. 
They are the natural friends of 
man, yet we often treat them 
with scant courtesy, and some- 
times regard them as of little 
use, if not our actual enemies. 
Let us study together a short 
and easy chapter in the open 
book of nature, and learn some 
of the things that trees do. 

Trees, like animals, are living 
things, but there are differences 
between them. Trees do not eat, 
move or feel; animals do. 



(24) 



"We know that animals grow or become larger. This is due 
to the food they eat. Trees also grow, but they use different 
food, and take it in quite a different way. They live upon 
mineral matter, that is, air, water and soil, which they change 
into their own substance. By this gradual addition of new 
material, trees become larger and larger each year, for growth 
is simply the increase of a living thing in size and substance. 

What do trees do? I will tell you. 

They heip to keep the air pure for man and the lower ani- 
mals. How do they do this? I have just told you that trees 
are constantly changing mineral matter into vegetable matter. 
This is their special work. 

The element of the air that makes it fit for breathing is 
a gas called oxygen. About one-fifth of the volume of the air 
is oxygen, and at every breath animals take in some of this 
oxygen and change it to carbonic acid gas. In other words 
the oxygen that is breathed in, combines with the carbon in 
the blood and this makes carbonic acid, which is breathed out 
into the air in place of the oxygen taken in. There is a small 
amount of carbonic acid gas in the air everywhere and at all 
times, and the usual amount is about one part in every 2,500 
parts of air. 

This carbonic acid is unfit for the breathing of animals 
and wherever it increases in the air, even to a slight extent 
above the amount usually found, animals can not live. Trees 
and other plants prevent the carbonic acid from accumulating 
in dangerous quantities in ordinary air. They do this by 
absorbing this gas through their leaves. It is their principal 
food. It makes trees grow, for a little more than half of the 
trunk and branches of every tree is carbon, and this a 1 .! comes 
from the carbonic acid of the air. 

You know what happens when we cut a tree down and 
burn it. The great mass or bulk of the tree passes into the 
air in the form of smoke and gas. A very small part remains 
in the form of ashes. Burning just undoes what growth did. 
The burning proces was rapid, while growth was slow. But, 
roughly speaking, everything that went into the air when we 
burned the tree came from the air during its growth, and all 
that remained on the ground in the form of ashes came from 
the ground while the tree was growing. 

Think for a moment how well fitted trees are for taking the 
carbonic acid from the air! 

Suppose you carefully measure the upper surface of the 
leaf of an oak tree, multiply this by two, for the under surface 
has the same area; then multiply this by the number of 
leaves on the tree and you can then form some idea of the 

(25) 



enormous surface which the tree annually presents to the air 
for the removal of what to us is a dangerous gas. 

Trees supply a large part of all the fuel in the world. The 
real wood of trees is of little or no use as food, but it does 
largely serve to cook our food and to protect us against cold. 
Even the coal dug from the earth, as well as the oil and gas 
now so generally used for fuel, come from vegetable matter 
and are largely the remains of trees in forests that flourished 
before man existed on the earth. 

Did you ever stop and think where the heat of fuel conies 
from? 

Trees grow, or store up, vegetable matter by absorbing car- 
bonic acid. This is separated into carbon and oxygen before 
it can be used, and this separation takes place only in the 
presence of sunlight. With every particle of carbonic acid 
that is thus separated and with the new substance made by 
the tree for its growth, a certain portion of the sun's light and 
heat is absorbed. Thus, when we burn wood, the heat and 
light given out are just what was absorbed when the tree was 
growing. 

I once heard a story of a boy who set out to catch a sun- 
beam — this may have been an interesting task, but certainly 
not an easy one, for a sunbeam can travel eight times around 
the world in a second, or 480 times in a minute. Yet the grow- 
ing tree does catch the sunbeam, and holds it a prisoner until 
it is released by burning. 

Trees give us wood, and wood furnishes us with building 
material, furniture, implements, utensils, tools and other useful 
things in great variety. Wood is one of the necessities of life. 
It follows us from birth to death. We are rocked in cradles 
made of wood; when we sit down it is in chairs or benches 
of wood; every day we eat from wooden tables; the papers 
and. books that we read and study are printed on paper made 
from wood; whenever we ride out it is in a wagon, carriage or 
car made largely of wood. More than one-half of all the houses 
in the world are built of wood and the other half use wood for 
doors, floors, and other interior parts; nearly all barns are 
made of wood. We ship all our fruits, vegetables and many 
other products in baskets, crates and barrels made of wood; 
we pack our butter and pork, and buy our nails and salt in 
firkins, kegs, or barrels of wood. When we die we are put in 
coffins made of wood. Next to our daily food, wood is the 
most useful single product in the world. It is indispensable 
to our comfort, convenience, and happiness. 

Trees furnish one of the most striking and permanent forms 
of beauty. What stately grace, what fine proportions, what 

(26) 



variety of expression, and what unconscious dignity may be 
seen in well developed trees. How they beautify and glorify 
every landscape. There is nothing more picturesque in nature 
than a clump or group of sycamores growing near a river bank 
and bending their mottled trunks and stretching their whitened 
arms toward the water, for which they show a peculiar fond- 
ness. 

Trees improve the climate and conserve soil and water. 
Although the influence of trees and forests on climate is not 
definitely known, we are beginning to feel the effect of an all 
too reckless destruction of our woodlands. Springs and streams 
are failing that never failed before; soil drouths are more 
severe and protracted. Untimely frosts are more ruinous to 
all the more delicate fruits, and wind storms are more dam- 
aging than in former years. 

The floods that cause such loss of life and property in the 
river valleys, have followed the cutting off of the forests from 
the hills and the washing of the soil by the rapid running off 
of the rain and melting snow, and are rapidly reducing the 
hills to rocky wastes and covering the fertile soil of the val- 
leys with coarse sand and gravel. It is said that "Fire is a 
good servant but a bad master." The same is true of water. 
Uncontrolled water, like uncontrolled fire, changes a blessing 
into a curse. 

Trees furnish safe shelter and natural resting place for 
birds. Birds are our best allies in fighting insects, but the 
removal of our forests has greatly lessened the number of 
insect-eating birds. Thus our insect enemies are increasing 
because the birds are becoming scarce. 

The scarcity of birds is not entirely due to the cutting 
down of our trees. Many boys have the bad habit of shooting 
birds and robbing their nests. This ought to be stopped. The 
boy who shoots a bird or robs a bird's nest is robbing the far- 
mer of a part of his crops. The best protection for insect- 
eating birds is plenty of trees. By planting and saving our 
trees we cherish and protect our birds. 

Trees furnish a great variety of miscellaneous, useful prod- 
ucts. Among these we may mention fruits, nuts, sugar, honey, 
tannin, pitch, turpentine, dyes and medicines. 

As the only soucre of wood supply, trees touch the welfare 
of every man, woman and child, but their influence goes much 
farther. It underlies the great questions of soil preservation 
and soil fertility; the use and control of streams and rivers; 
the water supply of towns and cities. In short, our civilization 
and progress as a nation are based very largely on trees. In 
the face of these facts we are still slashing down our trees 

(27) 



most recklessly, with little or no regard to restoring them, or 
in any way making good the loss. There is no crime against 
nature that draws down a more certain or severe punishment 
than that of stripping the earth of all her trees. 

Let us awake to the importance of planting trees and sav- 
ing our forests. Let our boys and girls be incited and encour- 
aged to gather the seeds of our most valuable trees. Begin 
this fall to gather chestnuts, hickory nuts, black walnuts, white 
oak acorns, the seed of the ash, wild cherry, locust, catalpa, 
etc., and keep at it till winter sets in. Plant a part of your 
seeds in some corner of the garden or in ans^ rich ground 
where they are not likely to be disturbed. Keep the remainder 
in boxes of moist earth in a cool cellar until early spring and 
then plant them. 




TYPICAL LOUISIANA AQUATIC PLANTS. 
(Swimming Pool, Louisiana State Normal School, Natchi- 
toches, La.). 



You can scarcely fail to enjoy this work, and at the same 
time add to your knowledge and increase your love of trees. 

Another thing can be done this fall. Observe, and make a 
note of the date at which trees lose their leaves. You will 
learn that the black walnut, buckeye, and other well known 
trees lose their leaves early in the season, while the leaves of 
the sugar maple, apple tree, and oak remain much later. 

If you observe carefully, you will notice this interesting fact: 
The leaves of nearly all the different kinds of trees that have 

(28) 



come to us from foreign lands hang on the trees much later 
than the leaves of our native trees. Compare the English or 
scotch elm with our native elms; the Norway maple with our 
maples, and the European ash and linden with our ashes and 
linden or basswoods. — William R. Lazenby, Professor of For- 
estry, Ohio State University. 




A LIVE OAK. 
The Washington Oak, Audubon Park. 



THE OAK. 



A glorious oak is the old gray oak; 
He has stood for a thousand years; 
He has stood and frowned 
On the trees around, 
Like a king among his peers; 
As around their king they stand, so now 

When the flowers their pale leaves fold, 
The tall trees round him stand, arrayed 
In their robes of purple and gold. 

(29) 



He has stood like a tower 
Through sun and shower, 

And dared the winds to battle; 
He has heard the hail, 
As from plates of mail, 
From his own limbs shaken, rattle; 
He has tossed them about, and shorn the tops 

(When the storm had roused his might,) 
Of the forest trees, as a strong man doth 
The heads of his foes in fight. 

—Geo. Hill. 



WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE. 

Woodman, spare that tree! 

Touch not a single bough! 
In youth it sheltered me, 

And I'll protect it now. 
'Twas my forefather's hand 

That placed it near his cot; 
There, woodman, let it stand — 

The ax shall harm it not! 

The oid familiar tree, 

Whose glory and renown 
Are spread o'er land and sea — 

And wouldst thou hew it down? 
Woodman, forbear' thy stroke! 

Cut not its earth-bound ties; 
Oh, spare that aged oak, 

Now towering to the skies! 

When but an idle boy, 

I sought its grateful shade; 
In all their gushing joy 

Here, too, my sisters played. 
My mother kissed me here; 

My father pressed my hand — 
Forgive this foolish tear, 

But let that old oak stand! 

My heart-strings round thee cling 
Close as thy bark, old friend! 

Here shall the wi.d-bird sing, 
And still thy branches bend. 

(30) 



Old tree! the storm still brave! 

And, woodman, leave the spot; 
While I've a hand to save, 

Thy ax shall harm it not. 

— George P. Morris. 



Luther Burbank is the foremost plant breeder in the world. 
Over two thousand five hundred distinct species are in the list 
of the plants upon which he has worked, embracing a large 
and comprehensive field of operations. He has also produced 
more new forms of plant life than any other man, and has 
exerted a unique and powerful influence. These new forms of 
plant life may be brought into two classes — those which have 
added to the wealth of nations and enriched the dietary of the 
race — as new and improved nuts, fruits and vegetables; and 
those which have made the world more beautiful — the new and 
improved forms of flowers— New Creations in Plant Life, W. S. 
Harwood, the Macmillan Co. 



The forest question involves the two great questions of wood 
and water. Wood is a prime necessity. Our population is 
rapidly increasing, while our wood supply is more rapidly 
diminishing. We are consuming wood three or four times as 
fast as we are producing it. A wood famine is almost in sight, 
Forest cover on mountains and hillslopes is indispensable in 
holding back rain water, and maintaining equable stream flow. 
Denuded hillsides mean an alternation of destructive floods and 
drouths. — Forestry and Immigration, June, 1907. 



BEAUTIFYING RURAL SCHOOL GROUNDS. 

The country school-yard is often a dreary place. The plain 
frame building of the rural school, too frequently little better 
in appearance than a cattle-shed, stands in the middle of its 
bare yard like a scarecrow in a corn-field after the corn has 
been gathered. And like the scarecrow in his deserted field, 
the picture is well fitted to frighten children. 

There is no bit of ground where beauty is more appropriate, 
where it will extend a wider and more constant blessing, and 
where it is more easily obtained. 

There are ferns for shady corners; there are many varieties 
of tall goldenrod that, bending in September breezes, will 
beckon the children back to school as to a golden way of 
knowledge; there are quantities of sumac which, put in clumps 
against the building or the high back fence, will change an 

(31) 



ugly barrier into a gorgeous screen; there are vines that ask 
only for a chance to climb lovingly over the doors and win- 
dows; there are little trees only waiting for an opportunity to 
spread their roots in the school yard and grow great there, en- 
tering tirelessly into the games of a ceaseless procession of 
scampering children, receiving into their arms the boys and 
accepting the confidences of the whispering girls and making 
for all when the sun is high a beautiful welcome shade. There 
are violets and snowdrops that are eager to play hide and seek 
in the school yard in early spring days, and in some parts of 
the State there are wild roses to bloom in June and lend their 
sweetness for all the summer to the memory of school. 

Since we can so easily make the school yard beautiful, a 
little oasis in the lives of ourselves and of those who are to 
follow us, and since it is fun to do it — going out into the woods 
and fields for what we want — let us resolve that next fall there 
shall not be a single barren school yard in all the rural dis- 
tricts of the State. — Charles Mulford Robinson. 



(32) 



PROGRAM AND SUGGESTIONS 



FOR 



LIBRARY DAY 



Thursday, December Twenty-Second 
Nineteen Hundred and Nine 



Sixty-one Thousand New Hooks 
to be Provided for 



ON 



Friday, Dec. 22, 1909. 

HOW? 



Through the earnest work of Teachers in our 
schools and the kindly aid of the general public. 



Let there be a grand rally on this occasion 
and see if we cannot raise enough money to 
purchase an average of 1,000 volumes for each 
parish in the State. 



We expect to have a report of this work from 
every section. 



What will your school do ? 

T. H. HARRIS 

State Superintendent. 



Baton Rouge, La., October 30, 1909. 
To the Teachers of Louisiana: 

While the twenty- second day of December has been selected 
as Library Day and the accompanying- suggestive program and 
material is presented, small admission fees may be charged 
for the benefit of the school library at each program presented 
during the year. If the teacher thinks best the exercises for 
December 22d may be in accord with the season of the year 
and an admission fee charged for the benefit of the school 
library. 

The humblest rural school in the State can and should have 
a school library, and the teacher should make the library enter 
into the daily life of the child in school and out of school. 

Let us make the school library record of the current session 
worth while both in the number of new volumes added to each 
school and in the use made of the volumes now on hand. 

Sincerely yours, 

T. H. HARRIS, 
State Superintendent. 



The ideal schoolhouse must combine the best qualities of 
each of the foregoing school sites. The accomplishment of 
this result furnishes work enough for School Board, Superin- 
tendent, School Trustees, School Improvement Leagues and 
patrons. , 

Louisiana, as a whole, has done magnificent work in im- 
proving her school sites and schoolhouses. 

But the questions for you are: 

1. What is my parish doing? 

2. What is my ward doing? 

3. WHAT IS MY COMMUNITY DOING? 

4. Have we a wide-awake School Improvement League, 

(35) 



SUGGESTIVE PROGRAM FOR LIBRARY DAY. 

1. Song by the school (on which there has been previous drill), 

2. Roll call, each pupil giving in response some brief quotation 

about books. 

3. Short address by teacher 

4. Music by orchestra, or song by school. 

5. Select reading by a pupil who is a good reader. 

6. Essay on the selection of reading matter. 

7. Music, vocal or instrumental. 

8. Review of some book by an advanced pupil. 

9. Remarks by members of Board of Trustees. 
10. Recitation. 

It. Ten minutes address by the Superintendent, resident min- 
ister, lawyer or doctor. 
12. For additional suggestions see Annual for 1908. 



PLANS FOR RAISING MONEY FOR LIBRARIES. 

1. Interest some philanthropic citizen to make a proposition 
to give as much money toward the library as the school will 
raise. 

2. Under the law the school board is committed to such a 
proposition to the school. 

3. Interest the community in your library and make a can- 
vass among your citizens for subscriptions for a library. 

4. Give a school entertainment or a series of entertainments 
and charge a small admission fee. 

5. Have a series of spelling matches with other districts, to 
which a small admission fee is charged. 

6. Secure a good lecturer with whom you can clear some 
money on the sale of tickets. 

7. Have all pupils agree to contribute a penny each week 
during the term. 

8. In all rural communities eggs are plentiful, and each 
pupil would gladly contribute one egg a week. These can 
readily be transformed into cash. Try it. 

9. Secure as many good books as possible by donation. 

10. Celebrate national holidays and commemorate birthdays 
of notable men, charging a small admission fee. 

11. To arouse interest have pupils sign a petition and request 
for books and pledge themselves to read them. 

(36) 



PRACTICAL POINTS ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES. 

1. Get a small collection of books and add to it gradually. 

2. If books are donated, accept only those which are useful 
and interesting-. Do not take as a gift anything unless it is 
bright, attractive, and, above all, readable. 

3. Have a book case of some kind, if you can get nothing 
better than a shoe box made neat with paper, paint and a 
curtain. 

4. Have the book shelves or case put up with screws in a 
convenient part of the school room. The library should be as 
essential a part of school furniture as the blackboard. 

5. Number and mark each book plainly. Do not cover the 
new books. An attractive cover will do much to draw the 
attention of the pupils, and will be read when a covered book 
will be neglected. A book worn out with use speaks well for 
its usefulness. 

6. Have a regular place for each book, and when not in 
use see that the book is in its place. 

7. Have some one, as an older pupil, act as librarian. Have 
stated times for drawing books, and stated length of time 
for keeping them. Keep record of all books drawn and re- 
turned, and by whom. 

8. For blank form for use of librarian, see List of Library 
Books, issued by the Department of Education, 1909. 

9. Use the books constantly. They will afford excellent sup- 
plementary work in language, geography, history, and almost 
any study. 

10. Encourage children to keep note books, in which they 
may copy favorite pasages from books they have read. Fre- 
quently ask pupils to give or write briefly the substance of 
some book which has interested them. 



THE BEST WAY TO RAISE MONEY FOR PUBLIC 
SCHOOL LIBRARIES. 

In this day when education has reached a higher standard 
than ever before in the world's history, or at least the history 
of America., the question of libraries is one which agitates the 
mind of every wide-awake teacher. Good reading is so im- 
portant to the advancement of pupils that every interested 
teacher feels that he or she must devise some means to obtain 
a librars 1- . 

One great hindrance is our patrons do not know the advan- 
tage of public school libraries and think them a useless ex- 

(37) 



pense, especially those of our district schools. It is almost 
useless for a teacher to try to obtain a direct appropriation 
for the purpose of libraries, but there are ways by which we 
may appeal to them indirectly and accomplish our desires. 



First, we may carry out the program for Library Day. The 
children usually enter into it with a will, and the teacher may 
inspire each one to earn enough money beforehand to buy a 
book for the library. She can also invite other neighboring 
schools to attend the exercises and the teacher will feel under 
obligation to present either a book or the value of one in 
money. Entertainments with silver offering at the door, or 
festivals may be given any time during the term. On such 
occasions a beautifully dressed doll may be purchased and 
given a name. Then write a long list of names, including the 
one given the dollie, and charge a small sum for each guess, 
offering the doll to the one who guesses its name. This will 
often bring a surprising amount through the pleadings of our 
babies. Other similar exercises may be contrived. 

Then there is the celebration of Mothers' Day (or Improve- 
ment League Day), a new institution in our public schools. A 
short program may be arranged and the mothers all invited to 
attend and bring a book. If they are interested they will often 
comply with the request to please the children, or a small 
admission may be charged. 

Lastly, some one is always paid to keep the school room in 
a sanitary condition. This work may be done by the teacher 
and pupils and the money appropriated for the library. Why 
can we not have them? Every energetic teacher may have 
what he will. — Anna M. Peters, Webster, W. Va. 



In the rural schools of the State there is always a balance 
left from the dollar incidental fee. This should be turned over 
by the local trustees to the library fund. 



FURTHER SUGGESTIONS. 

A good encyclopedia is very useful in the school room, and 
while it may not be possible or even desirable in many schools 
to purchase the large cyclopedias, there are several smaller 
reference books that will be of great assistance to the pupils. 
Among these I may name Champlain's Cyclopedia of Persons 
and Places and Common Things, published by Henry Holt & 
Co., New York; The Student's Reference Work, The Howard- 
Severance Co., Philadelphia, and the numerous abridged dic- 
tionaries. 

(38) 



In cities, towns and villages where already there are fairly 
good libraries it may be more desirable to make an effort for 
some special purpose, as the furnishing of supplementary read- 
ing for the different grades, the purchase of cyclopedias or a 
set of scientific or historic works dealing with special sub- 
jects in which more advanced students are interested. There 
will always be a need somewhere. 

Not only should the school provide instruction for the youth 
of the district, but the school house itself should become the 
center of the best life of the community— intellectual, moral, 
social With this end in view there should be a good collec- 
tion of books, magazines and reference works at every school 
house and a hall where public meetings can be held. However, 
before this last named desirable conditions can be reached there 
will have to be a very great change in the architecture of 
many of our school houses, but it is not only possible, but a 
dutv which each teacher owes to the public to place good 
literature before her pupils, and this can be done at once. 

The hundreds of members of the Louisiana School Im- 
provement Leagues now have an opportunity to demonstrate 
the usefulness of these organizations. Let "books" be the 
watchword now and "trees" next January. 

In connection with the observance of Library Day it may 
be found convenient in many places to have a kind of harvest 
home celebration. It is true .it is a little late in the season to 
have such an observance, but a good many things such as 
fruits, vegetables, grains, etc., can be brought into the school 
room and, when tastefully arranged, will add interest to the 
occasion. 

We know of a town in which considerable attention was 
given to growing chrysanthemums, and late in the fall a large 
number of these beautiful flowers were collected and an admis- 
sion fee charged for seeing them, thus realizing a considerable 
sum for the school library. Some of the plants which were 
donated for that purpose were sold at a good price also. You 
can do something of this kind. 

Superintendent O. J. Kern, of Rockford, 111., who has ren- 
dered such acceptable service in the educational campaigns in 
that State, says he would add to the three Rs two Ps which 
being interpreted, he says, means, "Paint Houses and Plant 
Trees." Good sugegstions for our people in Louisiana, as well 

(39) 



as for those in Illinois. A good work for the School Improve- 
ment League. 



Why can you not have a chrysanthemum exhibit for the 
benefit of your school ibrary, as suggested in another para- 
graph ? 



Of course you will accept all books donated, but such dona- 
tions should be carefully examined to see if they are suitable 
for a school library. Sometimes, unwholesome literature has 
crept in in this maner, and the teacher should continually be 
on her guard in this respect. 



That old reliable paper, The Youth's Companion, should be 
on the reading table in every school in Louisiana. Teachers, 
see that your pupils have access to it. 



I am of the opinion that a few good books, carefully se- 
lected, purchased through the efforts of the teacher and pupils 
will be more appreciated and will do more good in a commu- 
nity than a fine library placed in the school room by the 
board of education without any effort on part of pupils or 
teacher. We are always most interested in that on which we 
have expended time and effort. Of course we want the aid 
of the board, as provided by law, but a desire for books is 
better than the mere having without using them. — Adapted 
from West Virginia Library Day. 



QUOTATIONS. 



Some books are tasted, others swallowed, and some few 
to be chewed and digested. — Bacon. 

If time is precious, no book that will not improve by 
repeated reading deserves to be read at all. — Carlyle. 

The love of books is a love which requires neither justifi- 
cation, apology nor defense. — Langford. 

Laws die, books never. — Bulwer-Lytton. 

There is no past, so long as books shall live. — Bulwer-Lytton. 

As good almost kill a man as kill a good book; who kills a 
man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who de- 
stroys a good book kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as 
it were, in the eye. — Milton. 

A small number of choice books is sufficient. — Voltaire. 

A great library contains the dairy of the human race. — Daw. 
son. 

Books are embalmed minds. — Bovee. 

(40) 



Books are life-long friends whom we come to love and know 
as we do our children. — S. L. Broadman. 

Books — lighthouses erected in the great sea of time. — Ed- 
win P. Whipple. 

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure 
so lasting. — Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 

Books are the visible souls of men, and a good book, like a 
good life, is filled as a lamp, with light. — Dr. Geikie. 

It does not matter how many, but how good, books you have. 
It it much better to trust yourself to a few good authors than 
to wander through several. — Seneca. 

Those authors who appear sometimes to forget they are 
writers, and remember they are men, will be our favorites. He 
who writes from the heart will write to the heart. — Isaac Dis- 
raeli.. 

We shall one day learn to supersede politics by education. 
What we call our root-and-branch reforms of slavery, war, 
gambling, intemperance, is only medicating symptoms. We 
must begin higher up; namely, in education. — Emerson. 

What a sense of security in an old book which time has 
criticised for us. — Lowell. 

That is a good book which is opened with expectation and 
closed with profit. — Alcott. 

Our high respect for a well read man is praise enough for 
literature. — Emerson. 

Books are the best things, well used; abused, among the 
worst. — Emerson. 

All that mankind has done, thought, gained or been is lying 
in magic preservation in the pages of books. They are the 
chosen possession of men. — Carlyle. 

Consider what you have in the smallest chosen library. A 
company of the wisest and wittiest men that could be picked 
out of all civil countries in a thousand years have set in best 
order the results of their learning and wisdom. The men them- 
selves are hid and inaccessible, solitary, impatient of interrup- 
tion, fenced by etiquette; but the thought which they did not 
uncover to their bosom friends is here written out in trans- 
parent words to us, strangers of another age. — Emerson. 

I love vast libraries; yet there is a doubt, 
If one be better with them than without — 
Unless he use them wisely, and, in deed, 
Knows the high art of what and how to read. 

— John G. Saxe. 

(41) 



When I would know thee * * * my thought looks 
Upon thy well-made choice of friends and books; 
Then do I love thee and behold thy ends 
In making thy friends books, and thy books friends. 

— Ben Johnson. 
All 'round the room my silent servants wait, 
My friends in every season, bright and dim. 

— Barry Cornwall. 



SELECTING THE BOOKS. 

The selection of a list of books for a district school library 
requires care and the exercise of intelligent discretion. The 
problem is to get an adequate variety of equally helpful books 
with the expenditure of a limited amount of money. 

Some books are worthless while others are positively harm- 
ful, and in the district school library the influence of the latter 
is doubled and the former robs the youth of the school of time 
that will never again avail them so much. 

The most common error in the make-up of district school 
libraries is the preponderance of adult books to the neglect 
of the more juvenile minds. If the child has an adequate sup- 
ply of properly adapted reading at hjs arm's length from the 
time he is six till he is sixteen, directing his reading from that 
time on will be an easy matter. In reading as in many other 
things coming out right depends largely on starting in right. 

For beginning readers the story ranks easily first, but good 
as it is the story can easily be overdone. It is a grave mistake 
to create an insatiable appetite for mere"stories." The dead 
level of the usefulness of the story is easily reached and it is 
frequently necessary to put a check upon children especially 
inclined to this line of literature. 

Possibly biography should be ranked second in the scale 
of merit. Children are born hero-worshippers and rarely tire 
of hearing of the deeds of good men and great. In this care 
should be exercised in the character of the heroes the children 
are permitted to hold up before them. The exploits of out- 
laws and bandits are exciting and quickly absorb the boyish 
fancy, and just as quickly disquiet the boyish mind and shatter 
whatever foundation may have been laid for saner things. 

Animal life is next in importance and usefulness. Stories 
of this character rarely fail to interest and when written by 
men of scientific attainments they are both instructive and 
beneficial ethically. The excellent books on animal life, and 
forestry and agriculture as well, now becoming so numerous, 
are of the highest value in putting the pupil in harmony and 

(42) 



sympathy with his environment, thus fitting him for happier 
and better living. 

Books of travel also afford a wide range of useful material 
and are generally popular with the younger as well as the older 
pupils. The wise traveler finds abundant means to instill seed 
ideas of architecture, sculpture, painting, mechanical indus- 
tries, engineering, geographic diversities, social life and a score 
of other realms. This field is limited only by the amount of 
time that may be devoted to it. 

It is essential that the range of the child's reading should 
include a due proportion of verse, beginning with the rhymes 
of Mother Goose and continuing through Longfellow's Hia- 
watha and Tennyson's Locksley Hall. Verse cultivates the 
finer sensibilities and inspires a love for the beautiful. It is 
worthy of note that by far the greater part of the literature 
that has lived down through the ages is preserved in verse. 

While in juvenile literature the most recent years have 
been far more prolific than all the ages past, but here as in 
adult literature it would be a serious error to omit the classics, 
such as Robinson Crusoe, Alice in Wonderland, Grimm's Fairy 
Tales, Child's Garden of Verses, Pilgrim's Progress, Gulliver's 
Travels, King of the Golden River, Story of Little Nell, John 
Halifax, Silas Marner, The Wonder Book, and Last of the Mo- 
hicans. In fact it is hardly possible to make the mistake of 
getting too many of the well tried classics. It is the abundance 
even of the best books that perplexes us. 

The list of books found in the Institute Program for 1908 
has been very carefully selected for a district school library, 
having respect to the different grades therein, and while other 
equally as good books can be found, this list is suggested as a 
type of the class of books best suited for a school of this kind. 



MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS. 

Besides good books, good magazines and good newspapers 
have a place in the school room. These should be carefully 
chosen, however, and properly used. There is nothing more 
appropriate in the school than some of our splendidly illus- 
trated publications, and I would again call attention of our 
teachers to the excellent offer of Doubleday, Page & Co., which 
is as follows: 

Desirable Magazines for Every School. 

"The World's Work" $3.00, to schools $1.70 

"Country Life in America" 4.00, to schools 3.10 

"The Garden Magazine" 1.50, to schools .80 

Combination rate to Louisiana $5.60 

(43) 



The above may be ordered separately, provided the maga- 
zine be ordered addressed to the school. 

The rate secured by the State Superintendent is for twelve 
numbers each of "The World's Work," "Country Life in Amer- 
ica" and "The Garden Magazine." This means that even when 
school is not in session, the magazines will still be regularly 
delivered to any point designated. For instance, a home con- 
venient to the pupils, the homes of the school committee, the 
depot of a traveling library, or the public library. 



THE LIBRARY IN PUBLIC SCHOOL WORK. 

Theodore B. Noss, president of State Normal School, Cali- 
fornia, Pa., says in part on the above subject: 

"Education is in constant need of readjustment to meet 
ever changing conditions. For this reason the library at the 
present time assumes an importance as an educational force 
never felt before. This is the result of various causes, such as 
the immense increase in the supply of good books in cheap 
form, the rapid increase of the urban population, the disposition 
of men and municipalities to found libraries for public use, and 
especially the recognition of the fact that education should 
deal more with things of intrinsic interest and of larger mean- 
ing — such as may be found in literature, nature study, and art 
— and less with mere formal studies that have a more or less 
conventional value. Much of the pupil's time has been used 
in teaching things which we will never need in geography, 
arithmetic, grammar etc., and things which the teacher has 
never needed except for examination. The hungry child has 
asked for bread, and we have given him a stone. He has said 
to the teacher: 'What shall I do to be saved from failure and 
poverty and ignorance?' The teacher's reply has been: 'Make 
the verb agree with the subject in number and person,' or 
'multiply the numerators together for a new numerator, and 
the denominators together for a new denominator.' " 



ENVIRONMENT A MOLDER OF CHARACTER. 

The other day I saw a group of boys carefully scanning 
a theater poster. The picture showed a man in the act of 
plunging a dagger in the throat of a woman. The boys did 
not run or scream. But their eyes were big and the intensity 
of their faces showed that the horror of the picture was not 
lost upon them. Near by were two younger children playing 
together in the gutter. Their faces were smeared with the mud 
made by the dish water running over the sidewalk, and the 

(44) 



children were amusing themselves floating cigar stumps in the 
disgusting pool. 

Reflecting upon that sad sight there came to mind other 
childhood scenes. There stood out in memory a little lake 
that nestied among the hills where sweet-breathed cattle 
browsed and where the branches of great trees were mirrored 
in crystal waters. There were the boat-house and the swim- 
ming-hole and the spring-board; and there were summer 
nights, too, when the leaves were still and stars were bright 
and the spirit of the child looked up in silent wonder. 

In the race of life, in the contest of physical endurance, in 
the moral tests that come, that child has not a fair chance 
who has sprung out of the mud of the streets. 

To know the breath of lilacs and the rustle of autumn 
leaves, to be up with the lark, to wet one's feet in the dew of 
the pasture, to go to bed with the song of the whip-poor-will — 
these memories are like garden angels. 

The children whose horizon is a brick wall, who must play 
on cobble stones and go swimming in the canal and be chased 
by the police, if they do not grow up to be ideal citizens, shall 
we, of holier memories, sit in judgment upon them? Shall we 
not remember their bonds? — H. S. Bigelow. 



State Superintendent Joyner of North Carolina: "No edu- 
cational equipment can be complete without a library. A library 
of well selected books, even though limited in number, will 
double the efficiency of any school, will be a breath of fresh 
air or a gleam of glorious light in any community, will quicken 
ambitions and arouse aspirations and set in motion forces, the 
power of which no man can estimate." 

(In the October number of the Louisiana School Review is 
a picture and short biographical sketch of Superintendent 
Joyner. Read it to your school. — Editor.) 



TWO SCHOOLS. 



I put my heart to school 

In the world, where men grow wise. 
"Go out," I said, and learn the rule; 

"Come back when you win a prize." 

My heart came back again. 

"Now wher'e is the prize?" I cried. 
"The rule was false, and the prize was pain, 

And the teacher's name was Pride." 

(45) 



I put my heart to school 

In the woods, where the veeries sing, 
And brooks run cool and clear, 

In the fields, where wild flowers spring-, 
And the blue of heaven bends near. 

"Go out," I said, "you are half a fool, 
And perhaps they can teach you here." 

"And why do you stay so long, 

My heart, and where do you roam?" 
The answer came with a laugh and a song — 

"I find this school is home." 

— Henry Van Dyke. 



A TREE OF HAPPINESS. 

I have planted a Tree of Happiness 

In ground all wet with tears; 
I have prayed to God that His sunshine 

May fill the lonely years. 

I have planted a tiny seed of Hope, 

And then a seed of Trust. 
They grow in that sweet sunshine, 

And blossom, as they must. 

I show my flowers to the sorrowing, 

To those who suffer pain; 
And my tree grows strong in sunshine, 

And pure and sweet in the rain. 

— L. T. Mulligan. 



LIGHT. 

'The night has a thousand eyes, 

And the day but one; 
Yet the light of the great world dies 

With the dying sun. 

The mind has a thousand eyes, 

And the heart but one; 
Yet the light of a whole life dies 

When love is done." 



OUT OF DOORS. 

The pleasantest place for a boy to be 
Is out where the grass is growing; 

As glad and free as a king is he, 
Far up where the wind is blowing. 

(46) 



He's one with the bee and the butterfly, 

The robin and he are brothers; 
His tent is the sky, so blue and so high. 

Swept clean of the dust that smothers. 

The treasures he seeks are a wayside flower, 

A whistle shaped from the willow, 
The diamond shower, the gold of an hour, 

And mosses and ferns for a pillow. 

The lessons he learns are greater than books, 

And truer than words of sages; 
He reads in the brooks and violet nooks 

The marvelous epics of ages! 

— Willis Warren Kent. 



GREETING SONG. 



(Adapt some common tune.) 
Parents dear and friends so true 

Gladly now we welcome you! 
Happy hearts and voices, too, 

Blend in joyful song! 
As we sing our merry lay, 

Bidding every fear away, 
Joyous will we be today, 

And our strains prolong. 

Hearty welcome we extend 

To all those who now attend, 
Who their cheering presence lend 

In this rugged way. 
Progress quickened we will show, 

Hoping you can well bestow 
From your glad hearts' overflow, 

Meed of praise today. 

Welcome! Welcome! While we sing, 

Grateful hearts with us bring, 
Giving thanks for everything 

Which your love bestows. 
Onward, upward, be our aim, 

Wreaths of bright, enduring fame. 
Each would twine about his name 

Ere life's evening close. — Selected. 

(47) 



RECITATION— PROMOTED. 

Last night I was a little boy; 

You'd scarcely know me from Bess; 
The silly looking kilts I wore 

Were so much like her dress. 
But won't I s'prise them all today — 

My uncles and my aunts? 
For I am four years old, and I 

Have pockets in my pants! 

I don't want any han'kerchief ; 

I need my pockets all 
To keep my chalk and marbles in, 

My cookies, and my ball; 
I need them for my specimens — 

My bugs, and worms, and ants. 
Hurrah! I'm 'most a man today, 

"With pockets in my pants. 

— Mrs. Elizabeth Rosser. 



( 48 ) 



PROGRAM AND SUGGESTIONS 



FOR 



BIRD DAY 



Friday, March Twenty-Fifth, Nineteen 
Hundred and Ten. 



Baton Rouge, La., Oct. 30, 1909. 

To the Teachers of Louisiana: 

Until very recently many birds thought injurious to fruits 
and crops have been ruthlessly siain by farmers and others 
because their value to the farmer was not known. It is now 
definitely known that even such birds as hawks and owls are 
deserving of protection at the hands of the farmer, and that 
of the fifty-odd species of hawks and owls in the United 
States only six are destructive of game and poultry. All 
of the other species destroy millions of grasshoppers, mice 
rabbits, rats and other rodents injurious to crops. 

The object of Bird Day is to encourage the boys and girls 
to know and to love the songsters, to appreciate the beauty 
of the birds and to study their economic value to the farmers 
of the country in order that they might be given that pro- 
tection which they richly deserve as the friends and helpers 
of man. 

The game birds of Louisiana once so numerous are fast 
disappearing and some of them have almost become extinct. 
Bird Day should teach the value of the preservation of the 
game birds not only as source of food supply but as destroyers 
of injurious insects and weeds. It would therefore be appro- 
priate to teach the necessity of game laws, the object and 
functions of the Board of Commissioners for Protection of 
Birds, Game and Fish, and the laws of Louisiana bearing on 
these subjects. 

Sincerely yours, 

T. H. HARRIS, 
State Superintendent. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR PROGRAM. 

Birds as Insect Destroyers. 

How to Make a Bird Home. 

Nesting Boxes. 

Bird Legends. 

Bird Ways. 

The Economic Value of Bob White. 

School Gardens. 

Home Gardens. 

What I Planted in My Garden. 

Flower Legends. 

The Wild Flowers of Our Districts. 

(50) 



SYNOPSIS OF THE ACT (No. 278 OF 1908), 

Creating- the "Board of Commissioners for the Protection of 
Birds, Game and Fish" of this State and defining their duties 
and empowering them to appoint game wardens and such 
other clerks, officers and assistants as may be necessary and 
to provide the means of carrying this act into effect. 

1. The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, is to appoint three members; one from each oi 
the northern, eastern and central portions of the State. They 
are to serve for four years; vacancies occurring are to be 
filled by the other two members, provided the selection be 
made from the portion of the State in which the predecessor 
resided. 

2. The domicile shall be in New Orleans, and the Board 
shall hold meetings on the first Monday of March and such 
other occasions and places as may be deemed necessary. 

3. It shall be the duty of the Commissioners to protect the 
game and fish of the State and carry out the laws relating 
thereto; to collect and classify data relating to game and fish; 
to report annually to the Governor, and the Governor shall 
lay copies of this report before the Legislature. 

4. The Commissioners shall appoint a chief warden to su- 
pervise the parish wardens, and also appoint one or more 
wardens for each parish of the State. 

5. The wardens may be summarily removed by the Board 
of Commissioners; it is the duty of the wardens to carry out 
the laws for the protection of game and fish and they are em- 
powered to arrest violators of the law without warrants. For- 
feited bonds in cases above stated go to the Game and Fish 
Commission. (All other forfeited bonds in the State go to the 
public school fund.) 

G. The maximum salary allowed wardens is $800; said sal- 
aries to be paid out of the proceeds of hunting licenses and 
appropriations of the State Legislature, or police juries. 

7. Wardens are authorized to make seizures and searches 
for game and fish killed or caught in violation of the law and 
to give them to charitable institutions or to destitute sick. 

8. Hunters must have licenses in their possession; res- 
idents pay $1 and non-residents $25, payable to tax collector. 

9. Expenses and per diem of the board and their employees 
are paid from the general fund. No amount is fixed by law. 

(For laws governing the protection of game and fish see 
Bird Day Annuals for 1907 and 1908.) 



(51) 



A LESSON FROM THE SPARROWS. 

I awakened one morning early, 

The great city slept near by, 
And the first faint coming of daylight 

Flushed pink in the eastern sky. 

The cool, sweet breeze stirred gently, 

The trees had revived again, 
And they .lifted their green, wet branches 

Refreshed with the cool night rain. 

Earth lay in a calm, still waiting 

Before it awoke to toil, 
And the new day breathed its blessing 

On the children of the soil. 

As the dawn grew clear and stronger, 

And the rosy east grew bright, 
I thought of the hearts that still wished for 

The silence and peace of the night — 

Hearts that were faint in life's battle, 
That had lost their faith and trust, 

That saw not the glory of living, 

But dragged out their lives in the dust. 

And lo! as the sun rose brighter, 

From under the eaves I heard 
The first faint twitter of rapture 

From the heart of a little bird. 

And another and then another 

Caught up the joyful lay, 
And louder swelled the chorus 
As they greeted the new-born day. 

They were only the Father's sparrows, 

But they knew His tender care, 
For they fall not to earth without Him, 

Or flit in the sunlit air! 

And I thought if we would but remember 

The same Lord guides our days, 
We, too, would greet each new morning 

With a Paean of joyful praise! 

— Selected. 

(52) 



THE ORIOLE'S SONG. 

Tangled and green the orchard way, 
Breath of blossom, and waft of breeze; 
Dew-wet vistas of breaking day, 
Drifted snow on the drooping trees. 

Through branching bloom, and mist of green, 
Now here, now there, upon the wing, 
Flame of oriole faintly seen — 
Vision fair of the winsome spring. 

A low-drawn cadence, thrilling, low, 
A call, a charm unto the ear; 
A forest brook in golden flow, 
A love song to the waking year. 

And all the gladness of a young May 
Is touched with pathos at the strain; 

The melting music of thy lay 
Our heart's deep secrets wake again. 

— Shiela. 



THE SWALLOW AND HER NEST. 

A swallow in the spring 

Came to our granary, and 'neath the eaves 
Essayed to make her nest, and there did bring 

Wet earth, and straw, and leaves. 

Day after day she toiled 

With patient art; but, ere her work was crowned, 
Some sad mishap the tiny fabric spoiled, 

And dashed it to the ground. 

She found the ruin wrought; 

Tet not cast down, forth from her place she flew, 
And with her mate fresh earth and grasses brought, 

And built her nest anew. 

But scarcely had she placed 

The last soft feather on its ample floor, 
Than wicked hands, or chance again laid waste, 

And wrought the ruin o'er. 

But still her heart she kept, 

And toiled again; and, last night hearing calls, 
I looked, and lo! three little swallows slept 

Within the earth-made walls. 

(53) 



What trust is here, O man! 

Has hope been smitten in its early dawn? 
Have clouds o'ercast thy purpose, trust, or plan? 

Have faith, and struggle on! 

— R. S. S. Andros. 



HOW THE WOODPECKER KNOWS. 

How does he know where to dig his hole, 

The woodpecker there on the elm tree bole? 

How does he know what kind of a limb 

To use for a drum and burrow in? 

How does he find where the young grubs grow — 

I'd like to know? 

The woodpecker flew to a maple limb, 

And drummed a tattoo that was fun for him, 

"No breakfast here! It's too hard for that," 
He said, as down on his tail he sat, 

"Just listen to this: rrrr rat-tat-tat!" 

Away to the pear tree, out of sight, 
With a cheery call and a jumping flight, 
He hopped around till he found a stub, 
"Ah, here's the place to look for a grub. 
'Tis moist and dead — rrrr rub-dub-dub." 

To a branch of the apple, Downy hied, 
And hung by his toes to the under side, 
'Twill be sunny here in this hollow trunk; 
It's dry and soft, with a heart of punk, 
Just the place for a nest — rrrr runk-tunk-tunk." 

"I see," said the boy; "just a tap or two, 
Then listen as any bright boy might do, 
You can tell ripe melons, and garden stuff 
In the very same way — it's easy enough." 

— William J. Long. 



If we do not have all the robins we want it is because we 
do not know enough about rearing them or are not willing to 
act on our knowledge. A pair of living bird's eggs, with proper 
care by the children of the country, could produce in ten 
years a pair for every child in the country. With ten years 
as the life of a robin, allowing that each pair of robins rear ten 
robins every year, and making no allowance for losses, we 
shall have: 

(54) 



1st year, (2+10 ) 12 robins. 

2d year, (12+60 ) 72 " 

3rd year, (72 + 360 ) 432 " 

4th year 2,592 " 

5th year 15,552 " 

6th year 93,312 " 

7th year 559,872 " 

8th year 3,358,232 " 

9th year 20,149,392 " 

10th year 120, 896, 352 ' ' 

50th year 1,616,400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 

From "Nature Study and Life" — Ginn & Co. 



THE RELATION OF BIRDS TO AGRICULTURE. 

Frank M. Mil:er, president of the Louisiana Game Com- 
mission, recently gave to the press a very interesting article 
on "The Relation of Birds to Agriculture," which was pre- 
pared by Professor Edward Howe Forbush, State ornithologist 
of Massachusetts and field agent of the National Audubon 
Societies. Professor Forbush's article, which deals very fairly 
and conservatively with the relation of birds to agriculture, is 
as follows: 

The relations of birds to agriculture are not yet fully under- 
stood. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that the geat majority of 
birds that frequent farm lands, as well as most of the species 
living in inhabited regions, are either beneficial to man or neu- 
tral, rather than injurious. Even those that the farmer con- 
siders as among his chief enemies are often found to be far 
more useful than harmful when their food habits are studied 
with scientific care. 

Whenever a bird attacks poultry, fruit or grain, its ravages 
are conspicuous. But many birds may feed on the enemies of 
fruit, grain or poultry without attracting our attention in the 
least. Therefore the harm that birds do is often exaggerated, 
while the good they peform is either unnoticed or underesti- 
mated. 

It sometimes happens that the investigator finds so many 
factors entering into the food relations of a bird that it is diffi- 
cult to determine whether or not the species is beneficial. But 
no family of birds can be regarded as wholly inimical to the 
farmer, and only a few species in any country can be regarded 
as injurious. Species vary greatly in importance and useful- 

(55) 



ness when looked at from the standpoint of the agriculturist. 
Some appear to be of little or no economic worth, while the 
the services of others seem absolutely essential to successful 
husbandry, horticulture or forestry. 

The chief function which birds perform among the forces of 
nature is that of filling the biologic balance. Birds form a 
mighty standing aerial army for the regulation of the num- 
bers of inferior animals. Their scouts continually spy out the 
land and their swift battalions assemble at threatened points 
to check uprisings of insects or other pests or to reduce the 
too numerous seeds or fruits of plants. 

In such beneficent ways birds work for the general good. 
They are well fitted by nature for their peculiar office. Their 
flight is remarkably swift and well sustained. Their sight is 
keen and telescopic, and they are endowed with a tremen- 
dous capacity for devouring, digesting and assimilating food. 
The muscular exertion put forth by birds in their everyday 
occupations is extreme. They are so energetic and active 
that they need far more food than is required by mammals. 
It is not unusual for the growing young of certain species of 
birds to consume daily an amount of food equal to their own 
weight, and the quantity eaten by many land birds is so large 
that when they forage in flocks on the crops of the farmer 
they cause excessive loss; but the severity of such losses only 
serves as an indication of the amount of good that birds do in 
devouring the destructive insect enemies of the same crops. 
Huxley tells us that were the increase of a species of aphis to 
go on unchecked, the progeny of a single female in one year 
would equal in bulk the population of the Chinese empire. 
Birds operate to prevent this increase. Many instances are on 
record where birds, gathered from far and near, have saved 
trees or crops from destruction by insects or other pests. If 
the birds were all destroyed and their repressive influence 
on the increase of insect life thus removed, an unparalleled 
increase of insects might be expected to follow. We may 
readily imagine a birdless earth, carpeted by insects engaged 
in destroying all vegetation, thus bringing famine and death 
to man and all other animals. Probably the results of the 
extinction of birds would not be so simple and perhaps not so 
serious as this. Nevertheless the local destruction and ex- 
tirpation of birds has been followed in all recorded cases by 
an increase of pests, a consequent serious injury to vegetation, 
and even at times by famine among the inhabitants. 

The investigations regarding the food of birds made by the 
Bureau of Biological Survey of the United States Department 
of Agriculture have proved conclusively that birds feed very 

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largely on many of the most destructive insects of farm, field 
and forest, as well as on the seeds of pernicious weeds. The 
capacity birds show for such food is indicated by the following 
record of the contents of a few birds' stomachs: 

One yellow-billed cuckoo, 250 tent caterpillars; two yellow- 
billed cuckoos, 217 fall webworms; two flickers, 800 ants; one 
nighthawk, 500 mosquitoes; one nighthawk, 60 grasshoppers; 
one nighthawk, 1,000 ants; three mourning doves, 23,000 
seeds (largely weed seeds) ; one snowflake, 1,500 weed seeds. 

When it is considered that the contents of a stomach repre- 
sent but a single meal, that the stomach of a bird is ordinarily 
filled manj r times daily, and that large numbers of birds can 
be assembled quickly where they are most needed, the capacity 
of the bird for good becomes evident. 

Every farmer should know what families of birds are of 
most service to him, for he will be able to do something intelli- 
gently to protect and increase such birds upon his land. 
Birds of Orchard and Woodland. 

Those birds that live largely upon the enemies of trees are 
indispensable to man, for it is impracticable, if not impossible, 
for him, by artificial means, to preserve and protect the trees 
from their enemies. Something he may do within the narrow 
limits of the orchard, but he is practically powerless to con- 
serve the forests without the aid of birds and other natural 
enemies of insects and rodents. 

Many birds that feed on seeds vie with the squirrels in dis- 
tributing seeds and so rank high as forest planters. Others 
prune the trees by nipping off buds. Still others regulate the 
increase of certain insects that otherwise would prune the 
trees too closely, but that, when controlled by birds, exert only 
a moderate beneficent, restraining influence on the exuberance 
of plant growths. 

First among the birds that feed on woodeating insects is 
the woodpecker family. This family comprises a highly spe- 
cialized group of birds the more typical of which are especially 
fitted for digging into the trunks and limbs of trees and ex- 
tracting ants and other wood-boring insects from their hiding 
places. The utility of the woodpeckers is now quite generally 
recognized by orchardists and foresters, both here and abroad. 
The common Downy woodpecker of the Eastern States is one 
of the chief enemies of timber ants, wood-boring beetles and 
moths, codling moths and certain plant lice and scale insects. 

The nuthatches and the titmice, or chickadees, are nearly, 
if not quite as important as the woodpeckers, for they feed 
very largely on destructive insects that hide in crevices in the 
bark, in holes or cavities or burrow within the buds, twigs 

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or fruit. The common chickadee is one of the most serviceable 
of all. The woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees are 
doubly useful, because they guard the trees during the entire 
year. When, in winter, most other birds are absent, these 
busy gleaners are searching every crevice and cranny for the 
hibernating larvae, pupae or eggs of insects that have escaped 
the summer birds. The chickadee ranks among the greatest 
enemies of such fruit tree pests as the codling moth, the tent 
caterpillar, the gypsy moth and the canker worm, and it is 
also destructive to bark borers and scale insects. 

Among the birds that are essential to the trees are the 
creepers and the kinglets, the warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles 
and the jays, all of which excel in guarding the limbs and 
foliage of trees against the attacks of many of the greatest 
insect pests known. "When the developing insects escape all 
these and, assuming wings, launch out into the air they are met 
by the flycatchers that, sitting on some vantage point, pursue 
and catch them in the air, while above and around all, sweep 
the swift swallows and nighthawks that pursue their prey 
even into the uper regions of the air. On the ground below, 
the thrushes, sparrows, blackbirds and towhees pick up the 
insects that fall to the ground, or they search for insects among 
the dead leaves on the forest floor. All these families of birds 
together form the inner and outer circles that guard the tree, 
and all should be protected by the farmer. 

Birds of the Field and Garden. 

The services of birds in the field are quite as essential as 
in the forest. The task of protecting the grass in the field 
from the attacks of insects is quite as impossible for the far- 
mer as that of protecting the forest trees. Birds must always 
be relied upon as protectors of the grass crop, from locusts, 
grasshopers, leafhoppers, cutworms, grubs and most of the in- 
jurious insects of the fields. Prof. Herbert Osborn has shown 
that on an acre of pasture land there are often a million 
leafhoppers, which consume, unnoticed, as much grass as a 
cow. Were these not held in check by the birds which eat 
them they might increase so in numbers as to consume all the 
grass. Instances are on record where the absolute failure of 
the grass crop has followed the destruction of birds by the 
farmers. Wherever the numbers of field birds are greatly re- 
duced, insects incease and the grass crop suffers in proportion. 

In the field, as in the forest, birds find hidden nesting places, 
and an opportunity to rear their young in safety, but the 
young suffer from the effects of the early grass cutting, which 
exposes them to the burning sun, and to the attacks of their 

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enemies, even if they are not killed by the operations of hay- 
making. Nevertheless, the first broods of the early- nesting 
bird usually are on the wing by haying time. 

In the garden, on the contrary, birds find little chance to 
breed, for the operations of tillage tend to destroy their nests. 
Now and then a sparrow may safely rear her young in a po- 
tato hill, but few birds can nest in the garden or cultivated 
field, except where small fruits or vines are planted. For this 
reason birds are less serviceable in the garden than in the field 
or forest. Birds which breed in orchard or woodland are nev- 
ertheless of greater utility in gardens or cultivated fields near 
by, and the birds of the air, including the swallows, martins, 
swifts and nighthawks, perform some of their most beneficent 
services unnoticed, while skimming over garden and field. 
Doves, sparrows, blackbirds, larks, quail and other ground- 
feeding birds destroy enormous quantities of weed seeds during 
all season when these seeds are to be found. Prof. F. E. L. 
Beal estimates that the tree sparrows of Iowa eat 875 tons 
of weed annually, and the experts of the Biological Survey 
have computed that native sparrows save the farmers of the 
United States $35,000,000 each year in this manner. 

The thrushes are valuable birds from the standpoint of the 
husbandman. Chief among them is the American robin. This 
bird, although noted for its fruit-eating propensities, is, never- 
theless one of the most useful species on the farm. It feeds 
mainly on fields and cultivated land, where it finds destructive 
grubs and cutworms and many injurious beetles, in addition to 
the common earth worm, which is only one item on its bill of 
fare. The favorite bluebird eats very little fruit, and, like the 
robin, feeds on field insects as well as on caterpillars. 

Wrens are among the best helpers in both orchard and 
garden. The great sparrow family is valuable not only in 
keeping down weeds, but also in destroying insects. The na- 
tive sparrows are absolutely indispensable to the man who 
cultivates the soil, as they hold in check some of the worst 
pests of field and garden. Blackbirds of all species are pre- 
eminent as destroyers of grubs, grasshoppers and caterpillars, 
and even the crow, although often a nuisance to the farmer 
and a destroyer of small birds, is a very necessary evil in 
grasshoper time. 

The bobolink, although a pest to the rice farmer of the 
South, is a blessing in the fields of the North. Mourning doves 
are among the most voracious of weed destroyers. Bobwhites 
and meadow larks are now generally believed to rank higher 
than all the other birds of the farm as destroyers of insect and 
weed pests of the garden and field. It will pay the farmer to 

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protect all of the above mentioned birds, with the possible ex- 
ception of the crow. 

There are many birds besides the bobwhite on the game 
list that are worth more to the farmer alive in his fields than 
the small sum he can get for them in the market. One farmer 
who has carefully observed the habits of the bobwhite says 
that he considers every one in his fields worth $5 a year to 
him as an insect destroyer. While this may be an exaggera- 
tion, it is easy to compute the annual value to the farmer of a 
family of bobwhites or meadow larks at somewhere near that 
figure annually. 

Sandpipers, plover, grouse, wild ducks, herons and even 
some of the gulls and other water birds have been recorded 
as among the chief friends of the farmer during great insect 
irruptions in the Western States. The history of the invasions 
of the Rocky Mountain locust and the Western cricket is re- 
plete with instances where crops were saved by gulls, plover, 
sandpipers and other birds of the open. 

The services of the swallows, martins, swifts, nighthawks 
and whippoorwills are not generally understood; but among 
the insects destroyed by these birds are vast numbers of flies 
and mosquitoes, and it is now believed that the house fly 
and the mosquito are among the most dangerous to man of 
all animals because of the germs of serious and often fatal 
diseases that these insects carry and distribute. Five hundred 
mosquitoes have been found in the stomach of a single night- 
hawk. Whippoorwills and swifts destroy millions of them. 
Swallows not only rank high among fly- catching birds, but 
they also sweep the grass tops and eat countless myriads of 
field and garden pests. Martins are particularly useful about 
the garden. Two quarts of the wing cases of the striped 
cucumber beetle were found in a martin box at the close of 
the season. 

Utility of the Birds of Prey. 

The eagles, haws and owls -have been regarded from time 
immemorial as among the chief bird enemies of the farmer. 
Notwithstanding the position which has been assigned them 
by time-honored prejudice, most of the birds of prey are 
beneficial to agriculture and some of the owls are very de- 
structive to poultry and game, but among the others only an 
occasional individual is the culprit, while the many seldom or 
never attack poultry. Most hawks and owls feed on perni- 
cious rodents, such as house rats and mice, field mice, wood 
mice and gophers. 

Many haws and owls feed very largely on injurious insects. 
It has been estimated that a single species of hawk saves 

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the western farmers more than $57,600 annually during the 
grasshopper season. It is historical that certain species of 
field mice increase enormously wherever their natural enemies 
are not sufficiently numerous to check them. These irruptions 
of field mice always prove destructive to vegetation, but they 
are usually checked by the migration of hawks, owls and other 
birds that feed on them and that assemble in flocks for that 
purpose. Even the eagles, though in many cases destructive 
to farm stock, are often valuable in destroying vermin. 

The Protection of Useful Birds. 

The farmer is usually so situated that he can readily pro- 
tect many species of birds upon his farm. He can also attract 
the birds by feeding them, putting up birdhouses and nesting 
boxes or by planting or preserving wild plants which furnish 
birds food. The study of friendly birds and their protection 
is certainly of as much value to the farmer as the study of 
his insect foes. 



HINTS ABOUT PUTTING UP BIRD BOXES. 

There is no keener pleasure derived from any source than 
that which comes from the possession of bird neighbors. No 
class of tenants give more complete satisfaction than box- 
dwelling birds, houses for which can be cheaply and easily 
erected. No class of tenants can be relied upon for more full 
and compelte rental, in the shape of noxious insects destroyed, 
delightful music rendered, and, further, they are an unfailing 
source of amusing and instructive incidents. The boy or girl 
who puts up boxes for the birds to nest in, supplies them with 
drinking and bathing places, and provides food for those spe- 
cies which remain in winter, is certain of an unfailing source 
of pleasure. 

Birds, like human beings, are capable of adapting them- 
selves to circumstances to a very great degree. This is well 
illustrated in the barn and cliff swallows, which in settled 
localities have taken to nesting on the rafters and under the 
eaves of barns, instead of upon the faces of cliffs as did their 
ancestors, and as their brethren of less settled sections still do. 
In preparing nesting peaces for the birds, it should be borne in 
mind that the kind which will most readily appeal to them are 
such as most nearly approach to their natural nesting sites. 
Bluebirds and house wrens are the species which most quickly 
respond to an invitation to nest in artificial sites about our 
homes, and are the least critical as to the architecture of their 
dwellings. The roughest shelters and the most ornate struct- 
ures are both acceptable to these welcome bird neighbors, but 

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plain and weather-stained boxes are most sure of an early 
tenant, though with the bluebird and house wren the appeal 
of a convenient knothole or natural cavity in a limb is apt to 
be stronger than the attractions of any box. Small drainage 
holes to allow the water to escape from the bottom of any arti- 
ficial nesting limbs or boxes in case rain should drive in, and 
sloping and projecting tops to shed rain,' are important in all 
cases. Pieces of limb, natural or artificial, may be wired to 
the trunk or branches of a shade tree, or fastened on top of 
a post, which may be covered with growing vines, but care 
must be taken to guard against the raid of cats and squirrels. 
A piece of tin fastened around the trunk of the tree or the 
post which bears the bird's box, in the shape of an inverted 
funnel, is sometimes used to prevent cats gaining access to 
the nest, and when the box is on a post a strip of heavy 
square-mesh poultry wire may be placed on top of the post, 
under the box. Dried gourds, hollowed out, with an opening 
made for an entrance, hung in a tree often attract wrens and 
sometimes bluebirds. 

To utilize an old tomato can, the flap of which has been 
almost severed from the box in removing the fruit has a small 
hole cut out by making two slits about an inch apart and the 
same length, bending up the piece between the cuts. The 
rough edges around the entrance of any tiny nesting receptacle 
should always be bent over to prevent birds being injured by 
them. Such a nesting box is either tacked to a piece of board, 
which is in turn fastened up on the side of a building or the 
trunk of a tree, or it may be fastened directly to the building 
or tree by two nails driven obliquely through the end from the 
sides. 

Receptacles for wrens' nests may have entrance holes about 
the size of a silver quarter dollar, large enough to admit the 
wren, but too small for the English sparrow. This bird is 
another enemy of our native birds, and one which has done 
more than any other agency to drive them from our grounds, 
utilizing for his own nest the places provided for wrens and 
bluebirds, and quarreling with and driving away even those 
whose nesting habits do not in any way conflict with his own. 
' Boy and girl landlords must guard against these undesirable 
naturalized citizens, removing their nests when they start to 
build, and frightening the little disturbers off the grounds. 

Some writers find swinging boxes or nesting limbs, hung in 
the branches of trees by wires, proof against the English spar- 
row, which is wary of any nesting site not absolutely stable. 
Others have not always found this mtehod successful. It is 

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probable that as a rule the sparrows would not trouble sinvi 
domiciles. — B. S. Bowdish. 



THE LITTLE BROWN WREN. 

The little brown wren has the brightest of eyes, 

And a foot of very diminutive size; 

Her tail is as trim as the sail of ship; 

She's demure, though she walks with a hop and a skip; 

And her voice — but a flute were more fit than a pen, 

To tell of the voice of the little brown wren. 

— Clinton Holland. 



PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AND BIRD PROTECTION. 

(Written to the Editor of "Bird-Lore," 1899.) 
My Dear Mr. Chapman: 

I need hardly say how heartily I sympathize with the pur- 
poses of the Audubon Society. I would like to see all harmless 
wild things, but especially all birds, protected in every way. I 
do not understand how any man or woman who really loves 
nature can fail to try to exert all influence in support of such 
objects as those of the Audubon Society. 

Spring would not be spring without song birds, any more 
than it would be spring without buds and flowers; and I only 
wish that besides protecting the songsters, the birds of the 
grove, the orchard, the garden and the meadow, we could also 
protect the birds of the seashore and of the wilderness. It 
soon ought to be, and under wise legislation could be, a fea- 
ture of every Adirondack lake; ospreys, as every one knows, 
can be made the tamest of the tame, and terns should be as 
plentiful along our shores as swallows around our barns. 

A tanager or a cardinal makes a point of glowing beauty 
in the green woods, and the cardinal among the white snows. 

When the bluebirds were so nearly destroyed by the severe 
winter a few seasons ago, the loss was like the loss of an old 
friend, or at least like the burning down of a familiar and 
dearly loved house. How immensely it would add to our for- 
ests if only the great logcock were still found among them. 

The destruction of the wild pigeon and the Carolina paro- 
quet has meant a loss as severe as if the Catskills or the pali- 
sades were taken away. When I hear of the destruction of a 
species, I feel just as if all the works of some great writer had 
perished; as if we had lost all instead of only part of Polybius 
or Livy. Very truly yours, 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^ 



